The present invention relates to a device for supporting and gripping containers, in particular for container filling and/or capping lines.
It is known, in the technical sector for packaging containers by means of automatic lines comprising, among other things, at least one filling machine and at least one apparatus for fitting the container closing cap, that the containers must be conveyed underneath corresponding nozzles for dispensing the product to be packaged and then to the capping station using programmed and synchronized sequences.
Also known are numerous container supporting and gripping devices, substantially based on the use of worm screws and rotating star-wheels which, although generally fulfilling their function and being widely used for this purpose, are nevertheless unsuitable for handling containers with a heightwise dimension—i.e. dimension perpendicular to the plane of travel of the container—which is small; in this case, in fact, it is not possible to stably retain the container during screwing of the associated cap, during which step the container rotates together with the cap, preventing correct screwing of the latter onto the former.
A similar problem is also posed for those containers which, although of sufficient height, nevertheless have a thickness and strength suitable for stable gripping only in their bottom base part.
Examples of devices according to the prior art are known from GB 2,316,894 and US 2005/046212 A1. In the field of box-making machines, U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,478 discloses a box blank holding device for a box-making machine having a main body, a driving rack and a motor mechanism for reciprocally moving the driving rack relative to the main body. A transmission shaft is rotatably supported on the main body, the transmission shaft having a pair of pinions, and one of the pinions being in meshing engagement with the driving rack. A pair of holding-member actuating racks are disposed in meshing engagement with the other pinion. Each of the holding-member actuating racks has a holding member pivotally mounted thereto on an end thereof. Each of the holding members also has a roller thereon. The rollers are guided in respective guide grooves provided on the main body for guiding the holding members between projecting and retracted positions for holding and releasing a stack of box blanks.